What Lies Below the Surface

Chapter 23:Hidden Strings

About an hour later, we were back in Valla, and Azura suddenly spoke up as we were walking. "It's hard to believe, but Valla was once a peaceful kingdom. It was quite friendly with all the other kingdoms. In fact...it wasn't unusual for royalty from Nohr and Hoshido to visit."
Ryoma shook his head. "What? I've never hesrd of this place before now. You're saying that my father- and King Garon- were aware of this land?"
Azura nodded. "Yes. The Hoshidan Throne of Truth was a gift from the Vallite King. But...when the Silent Dragon, Anankos, seized power...this land was changed."
"Azura. How do you know so much about this kingdom?" Ryoma asked.
Azura tightly clutched her naginata. "...I suppose I should explain that as well...come with me. There's something I want you all to see."
With a nod, we all followed her.

We then walked over to an old statue, and Leo looked at Xander with a sigh. "Brother...this statue...you recognize it, right?"
Xander nodded. "Of course I do. It looks identical to the one Father worships."
Azura almost immediately spoke up. "This is a statue of the Silent Dragon, Anankos. Eachof the kingdoms has a dragon associated with it. Hoshido has the Dawn Dragon, Nohr has the Dusk Dragon, and Valla has Anankos. Anankos has unlimited knowledge and foresight. Hs was also the dragon who gave his blood to the ancient Vallites."
"But...why would Father worship him rather than the Dusk Dragon?" Xander asked as he shook his head.
Azura closed her eyes. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you...it's doubtful that there's anything left of the true King Garon."
"What do you mean?" Xander asked, crossing his arms.
Azura sighed. "Anankos can...control the bodies of the dead. His magic is likly all that's keeping King Garon alive."
Xander grit his teeth. "But I can't-"
Azura cut him off. "Anankos is using King Garon to create wars and destroy the world."
Leo sighed, and nervously ran a hand over Brynhildr, causing the pages to flip at random. "That's not...but...it explains his strange behavior...that damned dragon is going to pay!" he cried out as he accidentally fired a weak Brynhildr spell at me.
"Gyah!" I cried out as I bared jumped out of the way.
Leo immediately closed his tome, and blushed. "S-sorry Kai..."
Takumi growled. "Be lucky you didn't hurt her-"
I cut him off as I pulled him away from Leo. "Takumi. No. Now isn't the time for fighting. Besides, I'm fine."
"Fine...." Takumi mumbled.
"....anyways," Azura said with a sigh. "Anankos wants to destroy his biggest rivals- Nohr and Hoshido. With them in ruin, he'll be able to conquer the other kingdoms with ease. You've encountered some of his soldiers already, and they appear to be invisible. He is able go send them to other places with his magic. It's what cause Nohr and Hoshido to that they were attacking each other."
"And that caused us to launch real attacks at each other in retaliation," Xander said with a grumbled sigh. "Which is exactly what happened not even a week ago in Cyrkensia....then that settles it. Our ultimate goal must be to defeat the Silent Dragon."
I nodded as I released my grip on Takumi. "Exactly, Xander. We have to do it so we can save the world."
"I only have one question," Xander said as he crossed his arms. "Since you know so much about these events, and Valla in general, Azura...who are you, really?"
Azura slightly hesitated, closing her eyes before responding. "I...I am...I am a princess of Valla."
"Then you're actually from this kingdom?! Belonging to its royal family, no less?!" Ryoma asked in total disbelief.
Azura nodded. "Yes...though there is no longer a royal family to belong to. Anankos killed my father so he could take the throne...then he devastated Valla. Because of this...my mother took me and fled."

We then all began to walk again, not wanting to waste any more time.
"So, this land has a curse on it?" Leo asked me.
I nodded. "Yeah. It's why we weren't able to tell you anything at all before now."
Xander sighed. "I see. So uniting to defeat the Silent Dragon was needed..."
"Hoshido and Nohr working together," Ryoma as as he shook his head.
"Is something wrong, Prince Ryoma?" Xander replied.
"Actually, yes..."
However, before Xander had the chance to respond to Ryoma, we heard who we assumed to be a villager, call out for help.
"A-Ah! Someone! Help me, please! Anyone!"
I slightly gasped, surprised that there was a villager out here. "Hey! We need to go and help him!"
The boy then ran over to us, clearly out of breath. "P-please...help me...!"
I sighed. "Of course we'll help you," I said to the boy before turning my attention to the rest of my army. "Alright, everyone! Right now our focus needs to be on getting out of here, rather than facing the enemy! There's just too many of them!"
After some time, we were all able to escape from the enemy forces, only with minor injuries.

The villager smiled once we were in the clear. "Hey, thanks for saving me back there! Oh, my name is Anthony, by the way. I used to serve as a page to Valla's ruler."
Azura then gave Anthony a very skeptical look. "You...were a page to Anankos?"
Anthony nodded. "Yep. The few people who are actually left, including myself, are, or were, his slaves. However, there's something...demonic about him. After a lot of careful planning, I was finally able to escape."
Azura sighed. "...that would explain why you were being chased... If you were a page to Anankos, does that mean you know where he is?"
Anthony nodded again. "Of course. I mean, why wouldn't I?"
Elise then slightly giggled. "Yay! A lucky break! Now, how do we get to him?" she asked as she crossed her arms.
Anthony gave Elise an odd look. "What do you mean? Are...are you here to meet him?"
I nodded. "Yes. Well, it's more like...we're here to defeat him. Anthony...can you please lead us to where he is?"
He was clearly surprised by my response. "D-defeat him?! It's impossible! He's too strong...I just got away..."
"Please, Anthony. The whole world might depend on it."
Anthony sighed. "...alright. I'll help you. Anankos is currently in Castle Gyges."

===

Meanwhile, at an unknown location, a male and a female were having a conversation.
"So...Kai is coming," the male said.
The female had no response to the male's comment.
"So is that girl, Azura," the male added on.
"I see," the female said with a sigh. "That makes things more interesting."